This relates to whistles, specifically to whistles with more functionality than audio generation.
In sporting events such as basketball, the referee blows a whistle to signal various occurrences such as rule violations in real time. Video recordings of games are often consulted, for example, as in the event of a dispute in an instant replay, or at a later time as a study of a previously played game. Often, it is difficult to determine when the whistle was blown because at slow video playback speeds, the whistle recording becomes inaudible. Alternately, crowd noise may interfere with the recording or immediate perception of the whistle sound. A whistle that is illuminated when blown provides an additional perception mechanism well suited to sporting events and video.
In water polo, often, players cannot hear the whistle because they are underwater and thrashing about. Missing a whistle sound affects the real time playing decision making. A whistle that transmits a wireless signal to activate an underwater speaker when blown provides a direct path to the underwater players and can alleviate the missed call problem.
In emergency, wilderness, hunting or maritime situations, it is sometimes difficult to determine the source and direction of a whistle sound. A whistle that lights up when blown provides increased sensory input for these situations.
Hotel personnel utilize a whistle to signal a request for a taxi. An illuminated taxi whistle would allow the taxi driver to pinpoint the location of the request amid the hubbub of people coming and going.
Similar situations where enhanced whistle function is beneficial are, but not limited to, sporting events involving hearing impaired athletes and traffic policing activities. In general, an illuminated whistle would benefit the deaf population as a whole.
The industry standard whistle has no moving parts because moving parts are prone to jamming due in part to excess moisture and thus malfunction during operation. Prior art shows whistle detection schemes that sense air pressure by employing moving diaphragms, mechanical switches and such embedded in the whistle in U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,316 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,236. Moving parts and electrical elements combined with moisture are inherently unreliable. Another scheme, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,254 utilizes a microphone and a sophisticated electronic receiver to detect sound with a given whistle characteristic. This scheme requires a cumbersome wire leading from the microphone to the receiver unit attached to the user. To avoid false detection, care must be taken to filter interference noise picked up by the microphone from the crowd or an errant non-official whistle. This results in a complicated and bulky receiver attached to the user's belt. These characteristics are all undesirable in a portable system.
None of the above provides a non-mechanical, wireless, secure, lightweight integrated detection solution.